Only Way Out
by Angie Collective
Summary: Post Neo-Vytal AU. Ever since the epidemic of overpopulation that happened throughout Vytal, the Schnee Association only had one rule to establish and maintain- arrest all who may be in suspicion of any criminal activities they committed. It didn't matter how petty or severe the crime may be, they'll still be sentenced for one million years. Chapter 3 is up!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everyone! This is the first fanfiction I've ever wrote (and also my debut of this website w). This AU is taken place in a futuristic/post-apocalypse of an oppressive regime (to which I also got inspired from a game called Freedom Wars)! I plan to incorporate the majority of the characters of RWBY that will be parallel to this AU, so stay tuned!**

**Thanks to my friends betaflower and reeves3 for beta-reading my work! C:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.**

One million years.

One million years to life in prison in the desolate continent of Vytal in year VT 102XXX.

Ever since the epidemic of overpopulation that happened throughout Vytal, the Schnee Association only had one rule to establish and maintain- arrest all who may be in suspicion of any criminal activities they committed. It didn't matter how petty or severe the crime may be, they'll still be sentenced for one million years.

Living itself is a sin.

In one occurrence it happened to two sisters. Short, velvet hair contrasted the wild, blonde hair cascading down the back of a stunning beauty. A pair of silver eyes, still retaining a child-like innocence, glanced at lilac eyes in confirmation. Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long fully intended to trespass and scavenge an abandoned Dust shop.

The sun was setting behind the once tall buildings, leaving open cracks and broken windows for rays of sunshine to come through. Many of the foundations had been eroded due to heavy participation and lack of quality control for constant maintenance. Few buildings could withstand such circumstances.

It was a perfect setting for those who planned to discreetly sneak through the barren streets.

Tiny screws were scattered across and had fallen between cracks of a cemented sidewalk as Ruby assembled and placed her crafted circuit disruptor into a control panel. Yang was on a lookout from a nearby area in case of any unexpected onlookers passing by. Inside the panel was the main source of an intricate surveillance camera system surrounded the shop, and they had no plans to get caught any time soon.

After some last minute tweaking of the disruptor, Ruby placed her multi-tool into the back pouch and pressed the start button.

_Click._

A sequence of codes appeared on screen from the disruptor, bypassing its way through the firewalls. It took less than thirty seconds before the time duration of the device appeared.

_Beep. _Five minutes_. _ It was a window of opportunity she and her sister had to take.

Ruby gave Yang a signal to re-join her before they headed off to the back of the shop. Yang popped the vent off with her bare hands before taking a lead to crawl through the air duct, followed by Ruby. It was dark, dingy, and dusty inside- no signs of previous break-in entries before them.

"Ugh, it's dark in here." Yang commented. "Bring me some light will ya, sis?"

_Flick._ "Bring your own next time, Yang." Ruby handed over a flashlight, deadpanned.

"Haha, sorry 'bout that." Yang grabbed the flashlight and continued to crawl into the duct with proper vision.

A few moments later, Yang stopped her tracks and found an exit point. She quickly instructed Ruby to stay back as she began to lift her leg up.

_Bash! Bash! WHAM! _Yang's mighty kicks led the vent skidded across the floor and crashed into a section of a crumbling concrete wall, leaving an opening for Yang and Ruby to crawl out of the duct.

The once vibrant Dust shop filled with various Dust ores and powder displays was now vacant with rubble and empty, large vials. There was, however, parts and different Dusts were lying around to be salvaged.

This was good news. Yang cracked her knuckles and took a deep breath before kneeling down to the bottom shelves and started to scavenge. It was Ruby's turn to look out for Yang. After all, time was ticking and she knew they had little room to rest before taking off into the night.

"Yang, are you done yet? We don't have much time!" Ruby whined.

"Don't worry, sis. I got this."

With that said, Yang collected and carefully placed small quantities of highly explosive Dust and salvageable parts into her satchel. Most of the places that were abandoned on the surface had been cleaned out from previous scavengers, leaving little to no leftovers. It was frustrating although those greedy bastards usually ended up getting caught by patrolling androids of the Association.

What was their charge? Trespassing and a one million year sentence to slap onto their foreheads.

A sigh escaped from Ruby's lips. All that time, how could anyone be able to live with that?

"Hey sis, you okay?"

Ruby took a moment to shake off her drifting thoughts before looking up at her sister and nodded.

"I'm fine, Yang. Got what we need?" She asked.

Yang showed the satchel with Dusts and parts inside. "Yep! Let's get back before _they_ show up."

Oh, that's right. They were violating two of the protocols the Association systematized for its people: trespass a place with surveillance and going up to the surface past curfew. Their home currently resided in the undergrounds of Vale, a shell of what was formerly known as a city of hope and prosperity. Historically, Vale was the place of opportunities for those that sought wealth, success and freedom. It appealed to people throughout Vytal to the point where many would take their chances to make a living there.

It was also the time when the overpopulation epidemic started to occur.

At first, the constant rise of new residences forced many people to move underground to save space. The Schnee Association proposed a plan for the new citizens to be settled with their just built homes as soon as possible within the next few months made possible by the amount of funds and profits the Association obtained from partnerships and Dust distributions.

The months passed and yet no word came back.

Citizens wondered what was going on up on the surface and decided to see what was going on. Many went out in small groups at a time, leaving the rest to stay put.

The groups never came back.

Eventually, the silence had been broken with blaring speakers systematically telling their citizens to come up to the surface to surrender themselves for "the greater good"-living a life sentence of one million years.

What was the reason of the life sentence? Many wouldn't know, except those that were ambitious enough to find out the truth behind the epidemic.

Ruby was one of those exceptions.

"Hello~ Earth to sis~ Are you lost in your thoughts again?"

Ruby blinked for a moment before a hand smothered her face.

"Mmmfph! Yang I'm so sorry I didn't mean to get lost into my own thoughts again I mean- -"

Yang pulled her hand back and chuckled. "It's fine. I'm concerned about you but we'll have more things to worry about if you keep your head in the clouds."

As if on cue, two pairs of footsteps were heard, echoing into the empty lot outside the shop. It sounded firm, precised, and uniform.

Both pair of eyes widened at each other, surprised and horrified of the situation they got themselves into.

"Oh, crap! _They're here_!? But they're not _supposed _to be around at this time!" Yang groaned.

"We need to hide, quickly!" By instinct, Ruby and Yang dove behind a counter for cover. They were close to an air vent, which led to the back of the building and a getaway exit to their underground home.

"Okay, now that we're here, we need to blind them with our "smoke screen". You've got some with you right, Yang?"

Yang quickly patted her pouch.

"…I only have one left." She uttered.

"Are you kidding me!? Why now!" Ruby shrieked in frustration.

"Ruby! They can hear you from here-"

_"Intruders, identify yourself!"_

_[To be continued...]_

**Feedback is more than welcome! c:**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello everyone! I have some housekeeping I need to go over before you proceed to read this latest chapter. First of all, for those that sent me an anon review telling me despite my interesting start of my AU, my pace for the plotline of it was too "slow" and not "thoroughly explained" on my first chapter. It was my intention to keep my readers be interested in the story and you can't expect to have a bunch of information being dumped in one go. It's my story to write and rightfully so. I will keep on going with implementing plots in small pieces for you dear readers to keep in mind, so that you can figure it out for yourselves.  
**

**Thanks to reeves3 for beta-reading this! C:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.**

_"Intruders, identify yourself!"_

A voice boomed across the room, echoing through the aisles of the shop. It sounded stoic, emotionless, and robotic.

Ruby took a quick peek from the edge of the counter, and ducked as soon as guns pointed at her.

"How many of them are there?" Yang asked.

"Two and they're armed!"

_Shit, they must have found the circuit disruptor on the way here. _It was a smack on Ruby's face as she realized it was a rookie mistake of planted the circuit disruptor at a plain's sight. If she were to plant the disruptor at a place where it wasn't obvious from a distance, she and her sister would have no problems slipping under the Association's radar.

_So much for a quiet heist night_, Ruby thought as she peered over the edge of the counter.

It was the patrolling androids. 'They' were the ones Yang had been talking about. Originally, the androids were co-created by the Schnee Association along with the Atlas Corporation to serve purpose of military tactics and protect the citizens. They were built with an Artificial Intelligence to analyze and collect data for future research and development. Now, they've been reprogrammed with heavy surveillance to reinforce the rules the Association have established with heavy surveillance to ensure all citizens obey the systematic regime.

Otherwise, they will end up in a similar fate with the rest of the past groups that went up on the surface- a one million year sentence.

Like the drips of water slowly hitting its way down on the sink, the footsteps were drawing close to the spot where Ruby and Yang were hiding, and they were soon to be in a tight spot to make an escape.

Since Yang didn't bring along her hand-crafted weapons to fight with, she was left with Plan B - the escape plan.

"Yang! We only have _one_ chance to get out of this! Make it count!" Ruby hissed urgently. She knew they had one smoke bomb with a built-in electromagnetic disruptor to get out of this mess and the last thing they wanted was Yang to end up botching the execution and get caught.

Yang knew the routine. Whenever she and Ruby ended up in a tight spot, it was her responsibility to execute the escape plan successfully from the authorities. She messed up on the escape plans couple of times during their past heists which usually ended up with Ruby whining and complaining the lack of finesse Yang had. They had been incredibly lucky those times not to get caught.

Yang nodded back to reality and acknowledged Ruby's command.

"Okay, on the count of three!" Yang had learned from her past mistakes, and it was time to show it to Ruby without avail.

"One…" Her hand gripped the smoke bomb.

"Two…" Her heart beat started to race in anticipation.

"… _Three!_" With a war cry, Yang vaulted over the counter top and threw the bomb where it landed right at the feet of the androids.

_"Enemy hostile at si—"_

_BOOM! _The smoke bomb immediately clouded their visions, along with the knockout of the tele-communications from the electromagnetic disruptor function. A pulse resonated through the circuits of their built-in bodies, led up to ripples of electrical failures in the basic functions an android need to operate. None of which were able to recover a sudden disruption in the matter of seconds.

Yang jumped over the counter and grabbed her sister. "Alright, let's get outta here!"

Yang and Ruby made a getaway as they quickly as they could by crawling back into the air duct to the outside of the shop. As soon as they got up, they ran to a nearby area to grab their hoverboards which were hidden beneath the rubble.

The hoverboards were custom-built, powered up with white Dust properties for energy. It had a state-of-the-art turbo engine with the ability to glide in two modes: stealth and Turbo Max. Gliding in stealth mode served to avoid detection, while Turbo Max was used for emergencies.

Neither sister had an opportunity to activate the latter since they never ran into this much of a dire situation before.

That was, until now.

A constant wheeze from Yang's hoverboard was coughing through the engine start-up. Each time the ignition key was turned, it came out with similar results.

"What the hell! My ride isn't working at a time like this?!" Yang struggled as she was turning the ignition key repeatedly.

"Don't tell me you haven't pay attention to the maintenance schedule, Yang…" Ruby groaned. It was not the first time Yang had ran into an engine failure. Normally, Ruby would come over to see the damages her sister had done and perform a diagnostic test for signs of engine breakdown. It would take her approximately ten minutes to find and fix the problem.

Unfortunately, time was not on their side.

"Yang, we do not have time to stick around! We have to get out of here!"

Yang got up, flustered in frustration as she shoved her hover board into Ruby's hands. "Ugh! Lend me your board, then!"

Ruby staggered slightly as she held onto the board in confusion. "Wait, what about me?!"

Yang grabbed Ruby's hoverboard and turned on the ignition key. The engine was roaring in life, ready to be use in action.

Finally, it was music to her ears.

It took Yang a brief moment to think of a plan before vocalizing it out to Ruby. "I'll carry you while you hold onto my board! I'll have to use Turbo Max to get us home in a split second!"

A pair of silver eyes widened.

"What? Yang, are you crazy? We don't know the velocity of a hoverboard with Turbo Max!"

It was true. Both sisters were fully aware of unprecedented consequences for using Turbo Max of the board. Unlike stealth, the Turbo Max had a function to get to a destination in the matter of seconds with maximum energy in store. In other words, it would create a ruckus.

Yang knew what was coming, but she didn't care as she hopped onto the board without hesitation, reaching her hand out to Ruby. All she cared about was their safety of not getting identified by the Association.

"Do as I say, sis! Trust me!"

Ruby glanced at Yang's eyes. Behind the pool of lilac, a sense of determination was igniting into the depths of her soul. It told her Yang had the confidence to pull off the plan, knowing they will return home in one piece.

For a moment, an image of their father appeared in Ruby's mind.

**_No. Now it's not the time._** She mentally pushed her thoughts aside and then nodded at Yang while grabbing her hand tightly, knowing she was safe.

Yang noticed Ruby's slight falter, but quickly gave out a grin as she hoisted her little sister into her arms, clutching her to ensure she was safe in her hands. She will have to talk to Ruby about her drifted thoughts later.

"Alright, hold on tight sis!"

Yang weighed her legs down to set charge of the hoverboard. Within a few moments, a computerized sequence was already pre-set for their destination.

_Beep._ _"Rider, do you wish to activate Turbo Max mode?"_ It asked.

"Yes." Ruby nodded.

_Beep. "Turbo Max mode is online."_

_Rrrrrrr…ROOOOOOOAAAARRRRR! _With great speed and power, Yang and Ruby zoomed away to their underground home along with a few screams and plenty of dust to their wake.

Unbeknownst to them, a security camera at a hidden corner of a nearby building captured the footage and faces of the sisters. It may as well be the last time they enjoyed their freedom outside of the Association.

_[To be continued…]_

**Feedback is more than welcome! c:**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello my fellow readers! I'm back from the dead (aka I have time to write and update this story from school and real life obligations)! I just want to thank you all for your patience and I'm honestly surprised there's people that are looking forward to this AU. Now for this chapter, it's more about Ruby and Yang's family background and tell of what happened. Please note that Yang in this AU has absolutely no idea that she has a biological mother, and that she only knows Summer Rose so far. I will incorporate more of these stories as the story progresses in later chapters!**

**Thank you reeves3 for beta-reading! C:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.**

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"Next time Yang, please don't ignore Bumblebee. She needs your attention, too!"

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, sis."

A sigh escaped Ruby's lips. She was finishing up her calibrations on the engine of Yang's one of a kind hover board that once used to be a motorbike. The turbo max function on her hover board was rather interesting although it was insanely risky to pull off a stunt with crawling synthetics throughout the desolate area. Looking around she felt a sense of relief washing over her worrisome thoughts. Finally, after all their wild nightly adventures up on the surface of Vale, they somehow managed to reach their underground home in one piece.

It was fortunate for both sisters. If it wasn't for Yang's quick thinking and Ruby's leadership to get out of that mess back in the Dust shop, they would have wound up in the facility. A place where no one was able to escape for their freedom; sealed off in confinement and isolation from people you were once close to.

No one deserves to get punished that way.

"Hey, are you still mad at me for what happened earlier? You still dwelling over it?"

Ruby placed her multi-tool on top of her table as she snapped back into reality at Yang's voice suddenly by her side. "Oh! I'm not, Yang. I was finishing up with Bumblebee's engine, which took me a bit longer than I thought since I was distracted with the schematics and the details the technicians has put into this unique handiwork of the engine and-"

Yang raised her hands up. "Woah slow down there, sis! I know you're into your handiwork and into Bumblebee, though you're not mad at me anymore, right?"

Ruby laughed dryly as she got up from her workbench and handed over Bumblebee into Yang's arms. The hover board was well polished, sleek with gold and sunset orange body paint, along with upgrades of the engine fixed with extra calibrations of overclocking the main compartment in the processor. Additionally, Bumblebee has automatic mini laser cannons on both sides of the hover board in case there's obstacles on the way to a destination.

That's right, it's also a gun.

Ruby shook her head. "Nope. I know both of us had a rough night with those androids back there..." Ruby's eyes started to waver. "It's my fault too for not placing my device at a hidden spot. You know if I did just that then we wouldn't have had to deal with them and we'd been able to get out of the place with no problems and-"

Yang placed Bumblebee down onto a spare workbench and pulled Ruby into an embrace.

"Shh, it's okay, sis. We're okay." Yang cooed.

It was Yang's responsibility to comfort her only sister whenever she was in distress. Whenever Ruby was on a verge to break down from her ramblings, Yang would always be there to soothe her. Ever since her mother disappeared at a young age, Yang took a role as a caretaker to look after Ruby. Since her father was occupied into his research during on-site expeditions, Yang knew she had to protect Ruby no matter what. She knew her mother's disappearance changed Ruby's life and Yang was not about to let her sister go through the road of a torn, lost soul most people would end up in.

When her father went out one day to check on one of his expedition sites, Yang took an opportunity to step outside to look for her their mother. She brought Ruby along and placed her in a battered red wagon and trekked her way into the woods that was paved alongside the road by foot. She was determined to find their mother within a few hours, bring her back home to have a family dinner.

Boy, how naive she was. She almost got both her and Ruby killed as a group of older kids on the streets were on the verge to beat her up and nab a sleeping Ruby for Remnant knows what. Yang was too exhausted to defend herself and Ruby as a result of hunger and parched of thirst.

It wasn't until Uncle Qrow happened to pass by and come in to save his nieces. His tall stature, along with the mysterious persona he gave out to the older kids as they ended up running away in fear. He knelt down to Yang's height and he scooped her up into his arm as he grabbed the handle to pull along the wagon with Ruby curled up inside, enjoying her nap. Qrow looked at Yang as she glanced at him briefly, brimming with questions and a faint glimpse of hope in her eyes.

Without words to exchange, he understood Yang's intentions to search for their mother, Summer Rose. He, too, was also looking for her.

For now, it was best for Uncle Qrow to bring both his nieces back home for them to rest as he continued on to search for Summer Rose and for answers. He was prepared for any news, even when said news will change his nieces' lives.

As Ruby quietly wept out of frustration into her sister's arms, Yang closed her eyes as she recalled the night Uncle Qrow brought up the devastating news.

"_Mommy! Why did you go away?! Please come home!" Ruby cried as she scurried over to Yang, buried her face into her chest. Tears kept flowing down from a pair of childlike eyes nonstop as she clung onto Yang's shirt tightly, seeking for comfort._

_Yang, too, felt a pang of sadness into her heart. A teardrop trailed down Yang's right cheek as she silently nodded at Uncle Qrow, signaling him to leave the sisters be. Just that, Uncle Qrow gave his nieces a pat on the head as he got up and walked out of their shared bedroom._

_After a sound of the door closed shut, Yang felt her guard __break __down and __she __ended up crying silently as both sisters clung onto each other for comfort. The only sound anyone in the household would hear was the cries of __children __who lost someone they loved; someone they showered with kindness and love in their world._

_The smiles of a mother that will no longer be around in their lives._

_A few hours later after the news, Ruby was left in bed with her older sister, cuddling into her arms along with occasional hiccups and sniffles remained in her grief.  
_

_Yang laid down beside her, embracing her to provide __reassurance__. "Ruby, please don't cry."_

"_Y-Yang.. Mommy's not h-here anymore." Ruby quivered._

_In that moment, Yang was about to break down and cry again, however; she took a deep breath and looked at Ruby as she whispered. "Yeah.. mom's not here anymore, but you still have Dad, Uncle Qrow, and me. I'm still here with you, Ruby."_

_A pair of silver eyes looked up at her, shimmered with hope. "Y-Yeah.. Will you stay with me, Yang? Please promise me you will!" Ruby begged._

_Yang nodded. "I promise."_

"_Pinky promise?" Ruby asked as she raised her pinky._

_Thoughts raced into Yang's head. Protecting Ruby and taking care of situations that they will be facing together will be inevitable, but Yang believed they will conquered their obstacles together with their unbreakable bond._

_With no hesitation, Yang wrapped her pinky around Ruby's to signify her promise. She had no plans to break it from here on out._

Years passed, Yang showered Ruby with undivided attention and brought her along whenever she went out. She made sure both of them were well-fed and energized to face anything that stood in their way. She even taught Ruby basic combat skills for her to use in-case Yang had to be somewhere else. Yang was impressed with Ruby's interests of engineering as she discovered new technology and innovations that was passing by in the world of Vale.

Having to see Ruby working on something she is driven to do with her passion of technological findings made Yang smile. Yang encouraged her sister to strive to her best; to become who she wants to be.

Within few years, Ruby became the top of her class; exceeded with her academics in engineering and combat with usage and understanding of technology to the point where she skipped her grades by two years just to be with Yang in her school year. It showed Yang how much Ruby cared for her, and to maintain the promise both sisters had made years ago.

Yang was proud of her sister, no matter what happened to them.

Yang opened her eyes again as she saw Ruby latched onto her, eyes closed and cuddling into her chest. "You feeling better, Ruby?"

Ruby nodded her head. "Yes, Yang. I needed that...Thank you."

Yang gave out a grin and lifted Ruby up. Ruby let out a squeak as she quickly spun around couple of times before setting her back down with a bear hug.

"That's what sisters are for, y'know."

Ruby laughed. "Yeah! And Yang? You're the best sister I could ever ask for."

"_Oh_, dearest sister! You're making me tear up. Your love for me is making me having an achy, _achy_ heart!" Yang wailed as she was obviously exaggerating for the laughs.

"Pfffft- Yang, don't get all dramatic on me! You're embarrassing! I take everything back on what I said!"

Yang was about to crack another joke until a loud explosion interrupted their banter.

_[To be continued...]_

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**Feedback and review is welcomed!**_  
_


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